OCZ demos a fully working prototype of the next generation of video game control

In the world of competitive
video gaming, split second reactions are essential. Fingers
are fast, but not always fast enough. Some players turn
to drugs to try to pump up their performances. OCZ instead dreamt up
and created the Neural Impulse Actuator (NIA), the world's first gaming control
system that forgoes tactile inputs in favor of inputs from muscle movement,
brain waves, and glance (eye movement) levels.

OCZ demoed the device in fully working form to DailyTech one late night
at CES 2008. OCZ VP of Technology Development, Dr. Michael Schuette, had
the device set up in his suite, hooked up to a gaming rig via USB.

He first showed how the system is calibrated to deal with individual user
physiology. You simply put on the headband, which fits snuggly around
your head at temple level, and then fire up the calibration GUI. The GUI
contains sections that allow the user to calibrate each of the input types --
muscle movement, brain waves, and glandular levels.

For the muscle movement, the device tracks muscles in your forehead and around
your eyes. When calibrated correctly, these facial muscles provide almost
effortless directional movement far smoother than with a keyboard. You
can fine tune it to easily detect the difference between turning and
strafing; a critical difference to FPS players.

Brain waves are similarly calculated. Alpha and Beta waves are both monitored
by the device and can be assigned multiple inputs. These inputs are
highly useful for changing weapons. By utilizing what Dr. Schuette dubbed
a "Tourettes impulse" he demonstrated he could raise beta waves to a
high enough plateau to switch guns. A high threshold is typically set for
these values, to avoid say, changing your weapon if you are thinking about
having to get up for work, or other stressful thoughts.

The last input is glance (eye movement) which can also be useful for
directional movement.

Once the calibration was demoed, Dr. Schuette loaded up his "best"
configuration. After loading, the program sits on your desktop, ready for
use with any game you fire up. It uses Direct X and multithreading to
minimize any performance hits. Unreal
Tournament III started up and was demoed. Before long, DailyTech
was witness to one of the most unique death-match games in history. Using
the mouse only for aiming Dr. Schuette deftly moved and changed guns using only
his mind and facial muscles. The result was a fluid zen-like play of kill
after kill as he cut through the bot opponents like a hot knife through butter.

While results will likely vary, and depend on the quality of
calibration, DailyTech came away from the test confident that when OCZ
releases its device, which should be very soon, it will be very functional and
a practical, if a bit unusual, option for gamers looking to get an edge on the
competition.

Users also benefit from the device doubling as a sports and mental conditioning
tool, as it can help you monitor your alpha and beta waves during meditation
and visualization. This, as OCZ points out, makes the device not only
good for fragging your friends, but also for visualizing and subsequently
beating your friends in tennis, soccer, and any other competitive endeavor you
choose.

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This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled

what i foresee is a day when the keyboard is re-integrated in a different role. we can use this device for movement, and eventually, possibly, aiming. but imagine if we could start to use our keyboards for other things--DURING our fps gameplay. command and control functions, etc. THAT would be sweet.

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